In 20 years of racing, the résumé of Aaron “Boo” Sauter includes stints in A-mods, sport mods, and E-mods. Among all the types of cars Sauter has raced, he said stock cars have given him the most thrills.
Sauter (pictured in the No. 21A), of St. Joseph, Missouri, battled Travis Neeley (34D), of Grantville, Kansas, for fifth during the USRA stock car feature at I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, last Saturday. By the looks of it, one would think they were fighting for the win.
“I popped a wheelie coming out of the turn and rode it down the straightaway lap after lap,” Sauter said of his battle with Neeley. “We were going at it right to the checkered flag, door-to-door, side-by-side.”
The competition in the stock car class requires drivers to stay up on the wheel, according to Sauter.
“There ain’t a slow car out there,” said Sauter. “One bobble and you lose three spots. All of the drivers are at the top of their game. You have to have game to be with them.”
Sauter developed a soft spot for the full-fendered division as a child. He watched his father, Raymond “Stink” Sauter, compete in street stocks. Sauter started racing at 14 years old and took on the name “Boo” Sauter. He points out that no one calls him “Aaron,” except the I-35 Speedway scorer.
Sauter steers an Oldsmobile Cutlass. However, he has a 360-cid Chevrolet Bow Tie under the hood. His crew member Lee Kenney built the car and assembled the engine.
Aaron “Boo” Sauter, who owns a towing company with his father, admitted his car might be a little soft in the right rear.
“I like driving that way — it’s a hooked-up track,” Sauter said. “It may be a little too tight. Maybe I should calm it down a bit. We’ll get faster one way or another.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
